Ichiro Suzuki was officially inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 27, becoming the first Asian-born player ever to receive the sport’s highest honor. The 51-year-old Aichi native,

Ichiro Suzuki, a remarkable hitter with dazzling speed and arm strength, not only broke stereotypes during a career played across two continents but also blazed a trail for a generation of Japanese-born players in Major League Baseball.

Ichiro Suzuki could have been immortalized as a first-ballot Hall of Famer nearly a decade ago. He was last a full-time starter in 2012, at age 38. He logged his 3,000th hit in 2016, when he was 42. Still,